Dr. B.R Ambedkar_CompleteWorks_Created by Dr. Anand Teltumbde

WHAT CONGRESS AND GANDHI HAVE DONE

TO

THE UNTOUCHABLES

CHAPTER VIII
THE REAL ISSUE

Aren't The Untouchables A Separate Element ?

I

What is the fundamental issue in the controversy between the Congress
and the Untouchables ? As I understand the matter, the fundamental issue is:
Are the Untouchables a separate element in the national life of India or are
they not ?

This is the real issue in the controversy and it is on this issue that the
Congress and the Untouchables have taken opposite sides. The answer of
the Untouchables is yes. They say, they are distinct and separate from the
Hindus. The Congress on the other hand says 'No' and asserts that the
Untouchables are a chip of the Hindu block. This is the attitude of the parties
to the issue. The attitude of the British Government was made clear by Lord
Linlithgow in his statements as Viceroy and Governor-General of India in
which he declared in quite explicit terms that the Untouchables were a
separate element in the national life of India. Many people who regard the
issue of constitutional safeguards as the fundamental issue will feel surprised
that I should regard as fundamental an issue so apparently different from
what they regard as fundamental. Really speaking there is no difference. It all
depends upon what one regards as the proximate and what as ultimate.
Others regard the question of constitutional safeguards as ultimate. I regard
as proximate. What I have stated as fundamental I regard as ultimate from
which the proximate follows, as the conclusion does from the premise in a
logical syllogism. It may be as well for me to state why I have thought it
necessary to make this difference. The evolution of the Indian Constitution
appears to me to have established a sort of a logical syllogism. The major
premise in the syllogism is that where there exists an element in the national
life of India, which is definable as a separate and distinct element it is entitled
to constitutional safeguards. An element, making a claim for constitutional
safeguards, must show that it is definable as separate and distinct from the
rest. If it shows that it is separate and distinct, its right to constitutional
safeguards is held admissible.

That is how the provisions for constitutional safeguards for Muslims, Indian
Christians, Anglo-Indians, Europeans and Sikhs have come into being. It is

true that the constitution of India has not been framed in the light of principles.
It has grown in an haphazard manner, more in answer to exigencies than in
accordance with principles. Nevertheless, this silent postulate, if not a
principle to which I have referred, seems to be working throughout. The right
of a group to constitutional safeguards has come to be treated as
consequential. It is deemed to follow automatically when the fundamental
condition is satisfied, namely that they do constitute a separate and a distinct
element in the national life of India. In dealing with this controversy, one must
deal with it as one is required to do with a syllogism. In a syllogism both are
fundamental, the conclusion as well as the premise and to close the argument
it is not enough to deal with the conclusion and omit to examine the premise.
Looking at the question from this angle I think I ought not to close the case of
the Untouchables with no more than a discussion of the constitutional
safeguards. I feel that I ought to deal also with the premise, the ultimate, or
the fundamental proposition, from which the constitutional safeguards seem
to follow, if not as a matter of course at least as a matter of precedent.

It will thus be seen that the decision I have taken to give a separate
treatment to the ultimate as distinguished from the proximate proposition is
not without justification. It also seems to be necessary to deal with it
separately and substantially, because the Congress seems to be fully -aware
of the fact that this is the fundamental issue and knows that once it concedes
that the Untouchables are a separate element it cannot prevent them from
succeeding in their claim for constitutional safeguards. If the Congress has
come forward to contest this proposition it is because it thinks that it is the first
trench and if it fails to maintain it, it cannot save the situation.

II

It must be a matter of considerable surprise to those who know the
conditions in India that the Congress should come forward to controvert what
is incontrovertible, namely, that the Untouchables are separate from the
Hindus. But since the Congress has chosen to do so, I must deal with the
issue as best as I can.

The grounds advanced by the Untouchables that they are separate from the
Hindus are not difficult to comprehend. Nor do they require a long and an
elaborate statement. The statement of their case can be fully covered by a
simple question. In what sense are they Hindus ? In the first place, the word '
Hindu ' is used in various senses and one must know in what sense it is used
before one can give a proper answer to the question. It is used in a territorial
sense. Everyone who is an inhabitant of Hindustan is a Hindu. In that sense it
can certainly be claimed that the Untouchables are Hindus. But so are the

Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Jews, Parsis, etc. The second sense in which the
word ' Hindu ' is used is in a religious sense. Before one can draw any
conclusion, it is necessary to separate the dogmas of Hinduism from the cults
of Hinduism. Whether the Untouchables are Hindus in the religious sense of
the word depends upon whether one adopts as his tests the dogmas or the
cults. If the tests of Hinduism are the dogmas of Caste and Untouchability
then every Untouchable would repudiate Hinduism and the assertion that he
is a Hindu. If the test applied is the acceptance of a cult such as the worship
of Rama, Krishna, Vishnu and Shiva and other Gods and Goddesses
recognised by Hinduism the Untouchables may be claimed to be Hindus. The
Congress as usual maintains a body of agents from among the Untouchables
to shout when need be that the Untouchables are Hindus and that they will
die as Hindus. But even these paid agents will not agree to be counted as
Hindus if they are asked to proclaim themselves as Hindus, if Hinduism
means belief in caste and Untouchability.

One more point must be stressed. On the foregoing analysis the
Untouchable may be classed as a Hindu if the word Hindu is used in the
religious but in the limited sense of a follower of a recognised cult. Even here,
there is a necessity for giving a warning against concluding that the Hindu
and the Untouchable have a common religion. The fact is that even as
followers of recognised cults they cannot be said to have a common religion.
The exact and appropriate expression would be to say that they have a
similar religion. A common religion means a common cycle of participation.
Now, in the observances of the cults there is no such common cycle of
participation. The Hindus and the Untouchables practise their cults in
segregation so that notwithstanding the similarity of their cults they remain as
separate as two aliens do. Neither of these two senses of the word ' Hindu '
can yield any result which can be of help in determining the political question,
which alone can justify the discussion.

The only test which can be of use is its social sense as indicating a member
of the Hindu Society. Can an Untouchable be held to be part of the Hindu
Society ? Is there any human tie that binds them to the rest of the Hindus ?
There is none. There is no connubium. There is no commensalism. There is
not even the right to touch, much less to associate. Instead, the mere touch is
enough to cause pollution to a Hindu. The whole tradition of the Hindus is to
recognise the Untouchable as a separate clement and insist upon it as a fact.
The traditional terminology of the Hindus to distinguish Hindus and
Untouchables furnishes the best evidence in favour of the contention of the
Untouchables. According to this traditional terminology, Hindus are called
Savarnas and the Untouchables are called Avarnas. It speaks of the Hindus

as Chaturvarnikas and of the Untouchables as Panchamas. Such a
terminology could not have come into existence if separation had not become
so prominent and its observance so necessary as to require coining of special
terms to give expression to the fact.

There is thus hardly any substance in the Congress argument that the
Untouchables are Hindus and that they cannot therefore demand the same
political rights as the Muslims and others can. While the argument from
tradition is a good and valid argument to prove that the Untouchables are not
Hindus, it may appear to some to be a weak one. I do not wish to leave the
field without directly meeting the Congress argument. For this purpose, I will
grant that the Untouchables are Hindus by religion. But the question is: Does
it matter if they are Hindus ? Can it come in the way of their being recognised
as a separate element in the national life of India ? It is difficult to understand
how the mere fact that they might be called Hindus by religion in such a
limited sense can be the basis of an argument that they are an integral part of
the Hindu society.

Admitting for the sake of argument that they are Hindus by religion, can it
mean anything more than what I have said — namely that they worship the
same Gods and Goddesses as the rest of the Hindus, they go to the same
places of pilgrimage, hold the same supernatural beliefs and regard the same
stones, trees, mountains as sacred as the rest of the Hindus do ? Is this
enough to conclude that the Untouchables and the Hindus are parts of one
single community ? If that be the logic behind the contention of the Congress
then, what about the Belgians, Dutch, Norwegians, Swedes, Germans,
French, Italians, Slavs, etc.? are they not all Christians ? Do they not all
worship the same God ? Do they not all accept Jesus as their Saviour ? Have
they not the same religious beliefs ? Obviously, there is a complete religious
unity between all of them in thought, worship and beliefs. Yet, who can
dispute that the French, Germans and Italians and the rest are not a single
community ? Take another case, that of the Whites and the Negroes in the
U.S.A. They too have a common religion. Both are Christians. Can any one
say that the two on that account form a single community ? Take a third case,
that of the Indian Christians, Europeans and Anglo-Indians. They profess and
follow the same religion. Yet it is admitted that they do not form, one single
Christian community. Take the case of the Sikhs. There are Sikhs, Mazbi
Sikhs and Ramdasia Sikhs. All profess Sikhism. But it is accepted that they
do not form one community. In the light of these illustrations it is obvious that
the argument of the Congress is full of fallacies.

The first fallacy of the Congress lies in its failure to realize that the
fundamental issue for settling the question whether to grant or not to grant

constitutional safeguards is union versus separation of a. socia.l group in the
population. Religion is only a circumstance from which unity or separation
may be inferred. The Congress does not seem to have understood that the
Musalmans and the Indian Christians have been given separate political
recognition not because they are Musalmans or Christians but fundamentally
because they form in fact separate elements from the Hindus.

The second fallacy of the Congress lies in, its attempt to prove that where
there is a common religion social union must be presumed. It is on the basis
of this reasoning that the Congress hopes to win. Unfortunately for the
Congress, it cannot. For the facts are strongly against making a conclusive
inference. If religion was a circumstance from which social union was made
the only permissible inference then, the fact that the Italians, French,
Germans and Slavs in Europe, the Negroes and the Whites in the U.S.A. and
the Indian Christians, Europeans, Anglo-Indians in India do not form a single
community although they all profess the same religion is enough to negative
such a contention. The pity of the matter is that the Congress is so completely
enamoured of its argument based on religion as an unifying factor, that it has
failed to realize that there is no concomitance between the two and that there
are cases where there is no separation although religions are separate, that
there are cases where separation exists in spite of a common religion and
what is worst, separation exists because religion prescribes it.

To give a quietus to the Congress argument, it may be desirable to give one
illustration of each of these cases. Of the first case the best and the easiest
illustration I can think of is that of the Sikhs and the Hindus. They differ in
religion. But they are not socially separate. They dine together ; they marry
together; they live together. In a Hindu family one son may be a Sikh, another
a Hindu. Religious difference does not break the social nexus. Of the second,
the case of the Italians, French, Germans in Europe and Whites and Negroes
in America are as good illustrations as one would want. This happens where
religion is a binding force but is not powerful enough to withstand other forces
tending to divide such as the sentiment of race. Hindus and Hinduism are the
best and perhaps the only illustrations of the third case, where separation is
the effect of religion itself. That there can be such a case, Hindus at any rate
need not require ' to be told. For, it is well known that Hinduism preaches
separation instead of union, to be a Hindu means not to mix, to be separate
in everything. The language commonly used that Hinduism upholds Caste
and Untouchability perhaps I disguises and conceals its genius. The real
genius of Hinduism is I to divide. This is beyond dispute. For, what do Caste
and Un- touchability stand for? Obviously for separation. For Caste is another
name for separation and untouchability typifies the extremist form of

separation of community from community. It is also beyond dispute that Caste
and Untouchability are not innocuous dogmas to be compared with other
dogmas relating to the condition of the soul after death. They are parts of the
code of conduct which every Hindu is bound to observe during his life on
earth. Caste and Untouchability Far from being mere dogmas are among the
foremost observances prescribed by Hinduism. It is not enough for a Hindu to
believe in the dogmas of Caste and Untouchability. He must also observe
Caste, and Untouchability, in the conduct of his daily life.

The separation, which Hinduism has brought about, between the Hindus
and the Untouchables by its dogma of Untouchability is not a mere imaginary
line of separation, such as the one which the Pope once drew in a quarrel
between the Portuguese and their rivals for Colonial possessions; it is not like
the colour line which has length but no breadth and which one may observe
or one may not observe ; it is not like the race line, which involves distinction
but no discrimination. It has both depth and width. Factually the Hindus and
the Untouchables are divided by a fence made of barbed wire. Notionally it is
cordon sanitaire which the Untouchables have never been allowed to cross
and can never hope to cross.

To put the matter in general terms, Hinduism and social union are
incompatible. By its very genius Hinduism believes in social separation which
is another name for social disunity and even creates social separation. If
Hindus wish to be one they will have to discard Hinduism. They cannot be
one without violating Hinduism. Hinduism is the greatest obstacle to Hindu
Unity. Hinduism cannot create that longing to belong which is the basis of all
social unity. On the contrary Hinduism creates an eagerness to separate.

The Congress does not seem to realize that the argument it is using goes
against itself. Far from supporting the Congress contention, it is the best and
the most effective argument that can be advanced to prove the contention of
the Untouchables. For, if any conclusion is to be drawn from the hypothesis
that the Untouchables are Hindus it is that Hinduism has always insisted both
in principle and in practice that the Untouchables are not to be recognised a
chip of the Hindu block but are to be treated as a separate element and
segregated from the Hindus.

If therefore the Untouchables say that they are a separate element, nobody
can accuse them of having invented a new theory for the sake of political
advantages. They are merely pointing out what the facts are and how these
facts are the heritage of Hinduism itself. The Congress cannot honestly and
convincingly use Hinduism as an argument for refusing to recognise the
Untouchables as a separate element. If it does, it is only because it is
actuated by selfish motives. It knows that the recognition of the Untouchables

as an element in the national life of India, as distinct and separate from the
Hindus, must result in the apportionment of places in the Executive, the
Legislature, and in the Public Services between the Untouchables and the
Hindus and thus limit the share of the Hindus. The Congress does not like
that the Hindus should be deprived of the share of the Untouchables which
the Hindus are in the habit of appropriating to themselves. That is the real
reason why the Congress refuses to recognise 'that the Untouchables are a
separate element in the national life of India.

The second argument of the Congress is that the political recognition of the
Untouchables as a separate element in the national life of India should not be
permitted on the ground that it will perpetuate the separation between the
Untouchables and the Hindus.

This is hardly an argument worth consideration. It is the weakest of its kind
and shows that the Congress has nothing better to advance. Besides
contradicting its previous argument, it is entirely misconceived.

If there is a real separation between the Hindus and the Untouchables and if
there is the danger of discrimination being practised by the 'Hindus against
the Untouchables then the Untouchables must receive political recognition,
and must be given political safeguards to protect themselves against the
tyranny of the Hindus. The possibility of a better future cannot be used as an
argument to prevent the Untouchables from securing the means of protecting
themselves against the tyranny of the present.

In the second place, this argument can be used only by those who believe
in the social fusion of the Hindus and the Untouchables and are actively
engaged in pursuing means and methods which will bring about such a
fusion. Congressmen have often been heard to say that the problem of the
Untouchables is social and political. But the point is, are Congressmen
sincere when they say that it is a social question ? Or do they use it as an
excuse with a view to avoid the consequences of having to share -political
power with the Untouchables ? And, if they are sincere in holding that it is a
social question, what proof is there of their sincerity in this matter ? Have
Congressmen sponsored social Reform among Hindus ? Have they carried
on a crusade in favour of inter-dining and intermarriages ? What is the record
of Congressmen in the field of Social Reform?

Ill

It might be well to state what view the Untouchables took of the problem of
Untouchables. Until the advent of the British, the Untouchables were content
to remain Untouchables. It was a destiny preordained by the Hindu God and
enforced by the Hindu State. As such there was no escape from it. Fortunate-

ly or unfortunately, the East India Company needed soldiers for their army in
India and it could find none but the Untouchables. The East India Company's
army consisted, at any rate in the early part of its history, of the Untouchables
and although the Untouchables are now included among the non-martial
classes and are therefore excluded from the Army, it is with the help of an
army composed of Untouchables that the British conquered India. In the army
of the East India Company there prevailed the system of compulsory
education for Indian soldiers and their children both male and female. The
education received by the Untouchables in the army while it was open to
them gave them one advantage which they never had before. It gave them a
new vision and a new value. They became conscious that the low esteem in
which they had been held was not an inescapable destiny but was a stigma
imposed on their personality by the cunning contrivances of the priest. They
felt the shame of it as they had never done before and were determined to get
rid of it. They too in the beginning thought their problem was social and
struggled along the social lines for its solution. This was quite natural. For
they saw that the outward marks of their social inferiority were prohibition of
interdining and intermarriage between the Untouchables and the Hindus.
They naturally concluded that for the removal of their stigma what was
necessary was to establish social intercourse with the Hindus on terms of
equality which in its turn meant the abolition of rules against interdining and
intermarriage. In other words, first programme of action which the
Untouchables launched out for their salvation after they became aware of
their servile position was to bring about Social Equality among all those, who
come within the fold of Hinduism by insisting upon the abolition of the Caste
System.

In this, the Untouchables found an, ally in a section of the Hindus. Like the
Untouchables, the Hindus also by the contact with the British had come to
realize that their social system was very defective and was the parent of
many social evils. They too desired to launch forth a movement of social
Reform. It began with Raja Ram Mohan Roy in Bengal and from there had
spread all over India and ultimately culminated in the formation of the Indian,
Social Reform Conference with its slogan of Social Reform before Political
Reform. The Untouchables followed the Social Reform Conference and stood
behind it as a body and gave it their full support. As every one knows the
Social Reform Conference is dead and buried and forgotten. Who killed it ?
The Congress. The Congress with its slogans "Politics First, Politics Last,"
"Politics by Each, Politics by All" regarded the Social Reform Conference as
its rival. It denied the validity of the creed of the Conference that social reform
was a necessary percursor of political reform. Under a constant and steady

fire from the Congress platform and from individual Congress leaders, the
Social Reform Conference was burnt down and reduced to ashes. When the
Untouchables lost all hope of their salvation through social reform, they were
forced to seek political means for protecting themselves. Now for
Congressmen to turn round and say that the problem is social is nothing but
hypocrisy.

It is wrong to say that the problem of the Untouchables is a social problem.
For, it is quite unlike the problems of dowry, widow remarriage, age of
consent, etc., which are illustrations of what are properly called social
problems. Essentially, it is a problem of quite a different nature in as much as
it is a problem of securing to a minority liberty and equality of opportunity at
the hands of a hostile majority which believes in the denial of liberty and equal
opportunity to the minority and conspires to enforce its policy on the minority.
Viewed in this light, the problem of the Untouchables is fundamentally a
political problem. Granting however for the sake of argument that it is a social
problem, it is difficult to understand why political recognition of and political
safeguards for the security of the Untouchables should retard their social
unification with the Hindus if there is a genuine desire to set in motion
processes which will bring about such a result. Congressmen appear to be
arguing with no definite conception in their mind. They don't seem to have a
clear idea of the inter-relation between political and social factors. This is well
illustrated by its opposition to separate electorates and its preference to joint
electorates. The process of reasoning is worth attention. In a joint electorate
the Hindu votes for an Untouchable and the Untouchable votes for the Hindu.
This builds up social solidarity. In, a separate electorate the Hindu votes for a
Hindu and an Untouchable votes for an Untouchable. This prevents social
solidarity. This is not the point of view from which the Untouchables look at
the question of electorates. Their point of view is which of the two will enable
the Untouchables to get an Untouchable of their choice elected. But I am
interested in scrutinising the Congress argument. I do not wish to enlarge
upon and complicate the argument. The reasoning of the Congress appears
to be correct. But it is only a superficial view of the matter. These elections
take place once in five years. It may well be asked how can social solidarity
between the Hindus and the Untouchables be advanced by one day devoted
to joint voting if for the rest of the five years they are leading severely
separate lives. Similarly, it may well be asked how can one day devoted to
separate voting in the course of five years make greater separation than what
already exists or contrarywise how can one day in five years devoted to
separate voting prevent those who wish to work for union from carrying out
their purposes. To make it concrete how can separate electorate for the

Untouchables prevent intermarriage or interdining being introduced between
them and the Hindus ? Only a congenital idiot will say that they can. It is
therefore puerile to say that the political recognition of the Untouchables as a
separate element and granting them constitutional safeguards will perpetuate
separation between them and the Hindus if the Hindus desire to put an end to
it.

IV

There are other floating arguments against the claim of the Untouchables
for political safeguards which must also be examined. One such argument is
that there are social divisions everywhere Europe; but they are not taken into
accouirt by the people of Europe in framing their constitutions. Why should
they be taken into account in India ? The thesis is general. But it may be
extended to such a length that even the claim of the Untouchables may be
enveloped by it. As such I prefer to state why I think it is unsound.

In making my comments I propose to make a distinction between the
statement and the argument founded on it and deal with them separately. The
statement is good up to a point. In so far as it alleges that every society
consists of groups it cannot be challenged. For even in European or American
society there are groups associated together in various ways and for various
purposes. Some are like the kindred closely bound together by blood or
language. Some are of the nature of social classes differentiated on the basis
of rank and status. Others are religious associations upholding particular
dogmas; not to mention, political parties and industrial corporations, criminal
gangs and so on in an endless variety with differing aims and bound together
some loosely some closely by differing degrees of affinity. But when the
statement goes beyond and says that the castes in India are not different
from Groups and classes in Europe and America it is nothing but an arrant
nonsense. The groups and classes of Europe may be the same as the caste
in India to look at. But fundamentally two are quite different. The chief
distinguishing feature is the isolation and exclusiveness which are the hall-
marks of the castes in India and which are maintained as matter not of routine
but of faith none of which characteristics is to be found in the group or the
class system of "Europe or America.

Turning to the thesis the social organisation of India being different from
what it is in Europe and America it follows that while Europe and America
need not take into account the facts and circumstances of their social
organisation in framing their constitution, India cannot omit to take account of
her Caste and Untouchability. For a fuller understanding of the matter I may
explain why Europe need not and why India must. The danger to a society
organised, in groups is that each group develops what are called "is own

interests" and the question of forging constitutional safeguards arises from the
necessity of counteracting the mischief that such interest might cause to
others outside it., Where there is a possibility of counteracting the mischief by
non-political means there is no necessity for forging constitutional safeguards.
If, on the other hand, non, -political means of counteracting it do not exist then
constitutional means must be forged. In Europe the possibility of
counteracting mischief arising from -a' group seeking to maintain "its own
interest" does exist. It exists because of the absence of isolation and
exclusiveness among the various groups which allows free scope for
interaction with the result that the dominant purpose of a group to stand out
for its own interests and always seek to protect them as something violate
and sacred gives way to a broadening and socialisation of its aims and
purposes. This endosmosis between groups in Europe affects dispositions
and produces a society which can be depended upon for community of
thought, harmony of purposes and unity of action. But the case of India is
totally different. The caste in India is exclusive and isolated. There is no
interaction and no modification of aims and objects. What a caste or a
combination of castes regard "as their own interest" as against other castes
remains as sacred and inviolate as ever. The fact that they mingle and co-
operate does not alter their character. These acts of co-operation are
mechanical and not social. Individuals use one another so as to get desired
results, without reference to the emotional and intellectual disposition. The
fact that they give and take orders modify actions and results. But it does not
affect their dispositions. That being the case the" Indian constitution must
provide safeguards to prevent castes with "their own interests" from doing
mischief to other helpless castes.

There is another distinguishing feature of the Indian caste system which
justifies why the Indian Constitution must take account of it and provide
against mischief arising from it. Every society consists of groups. But it must
be recognised that the mutual relations of the groups are not the same
everywhere. In one society groups may be only non-social in their attitude
towards one another. But in another they may be anti-social. Where the spirit
which actuates the various social groups is only non-social their existence
may not be taken into account in framing a constitution. There is no cause for
danger in a group which is only non-social. But where a group is actuated by
an anti-social spirit towards another and to which alien is synonymous with
enemy the fact must be taken into account in framing the constitution and the
class which has been the victim of anti-social spirit must be given protection
by proper safeguards. In India the castes are not merely non-social. Often
they are anti-social. This is particularly true of the "Hindus towards the

Untouchables. A few facts will suffice to show how anti-social the Hindus are
towards the Untouchables. For instance, the Hindus will not allow the
Untouchables to take water from a well. The Hindus will not allow the
Untouchables entry in schools. The Hindus will not allow the Untouchables to
travel in buses. The Hindus will not allow the Untouchables to travel in the
same railway compartment. The Hindus will not allow Untouchables to wear
clean clothes. The Hindus will not allow Untouchables to wear jewellery. The
Hindus will not allow Untouchables to put tiles on the roofs of their houses.
The Hindus will not tolerate Untouchables to own land. The Hindus will not
allow Untouchables to keep cattle. The Hindus will not allow an Untouchable
to sit when Hindu is standing. They are not isolated acts of a few bad men
among the Hindus. They are the emanations of the permanent anti-social
attitude of the Hindu community against the Untouchables.

It is unnecessary to carry the matter further. It is enough to say that the
thesis is full of fallacies and it would be a most shameful piece of chicanery if
it was used as a ground for opposing the demand of the Untouchables for
constitutional safeguards.

V

There is another floating argument one sometimes comes across. The basis
of the argument is that Untouchability is a vanishing thing and therefore there
is no use recognising the Untouchables as a separate element in the national
life of India. Everything is vanishing and there is nothing that is permanent in
human history. The point may be considered when Untouchability has gone
root and branch. Until that state arrives, it is unnecessary to pay any regard to
it. We must all hope for the disappearance of Untouchability. But we must be
careful not to be misled by people who boast of being incorrigible optimists.
An optimist is a good companion to cheer up when one is in a state of
depression. But he is not always a truthful witness of facts.

This argument is no argument at all. But since some people may be allured
by it I wish to expose it and to show how futile it is. Those who raise this point
do not seem, to make a distinction between Untouchability as a touch-me-not-
ism and Untouchability as a mental attitude manifesting itself in social
discrimination. The two are quite different. It may be that Untouchability as a
touch-me-not-ism may be gradually vanishing in towns, although I am
doubtful if this is happening in any appreciable degree. But I am quite certain
Untouchability as a propensity on the part of the Hindus to discriminate
against the Untouchables will not vanish either in towns or in villages within
an imaginable distance of time. Not only Untouchability as a discriminating
propensity will not disappear but Untouchability as touch-me-notism will not
disappear within a measurable distance of time in the vast number of villages

in which the vast number of Hindus live and will continue to live. You cannot
untwist a two-thousand-year-twist of the human mind and turn it in the
opposite direction.

I am quite aware that there are some protagonists of Hinduism who say that
Hinduism is a very adaptable religion, that it can adjust itself to everything and
absorb anything. I do not think many people would regard such a capacity in
a religion as a virtue to be proud of just as no one would think highly of a child
because it has developed the capacity to eat dung, and digest it. But that is
another matter. It is quite true that Hinduism can adjust itself. The best
example of its adjust ability is the literary production called Allahupanishad
which the Brahmins of the time of Akbar produced to give a place to his Dine-
llahi within Hinduism and to recognise it as the Seventh system of Hindu
philosophy. It is true that Hinduism can absorb many things. The beef-eating
Hinduism (or strictly speaking Brahmanism which is the proper name of
Hinduism in its earlier stage) absorbed the non-violence theory of Buddhism
and became a religion of vegetarianism. But there is one thing which
Hinduism has never been able to do — namely to adjust itself to absorb the
Untouchables or to remove the bar of Untouchability. There have been many
reformers who, long before Mr. Gandhi came on the scene, tried to remove
the stain of Untouchability. But they have all failed. The reason for their failure
appears to me to be very simple. Hindus have nothing to fear from the
Untouchables, nor have they anything to gain by the abolition of
Untouchability. Hindus gave up beef-eating because they were afraid that
otherwise Buddhism would overpower Hinduism. Hindus wrote Allah-
upanishad because they had everything to gain by helping Akbar to establish
a new religion. The author gained money by pleasing the Emperor and by
lending aid to establish a religion which promised less tyranny and oppression
to the Hindus than Islam held out. Neither of these considerations exist for the
most sanguine among the Untouchables to expect that the Hindus will readily
put an end to this curse of Untouchability.

Not only have the Hindus nothing to fear and nothing to gain, they have in
fact much to lose by the abolition of Untouchability. The system of
Untouchability is a gold mine to the Hindus. In it the 240 millions of Hindus
have 60 millions of Untouchables to serve as their retinue to enable the
Hindus to maintain pomp and ceremony and to cultivate a feeling of pride and
dignity befitting a master class which cannot be fostered and sustained unless
there is beneath it a servile class to look down upon. In it the 240 millions of
Hindus have 60 millions of Untouchables to be used as forced labour and
because of their state of complete destitution and helplessness can be
compelled to work on a mere pittance and sometimes on nothing at all. In it

the 240 millions of Hindus have 60 millions of Untouchables to do the dirty
work of scavengers and sweepers which the Hindu is debarred by his religion
to do and which must be done for the Hindus by non-Hindus who could be no
others than Untouchables. In it the 240 millions of Hindus have 60 millions of
Untouchables who can be kept to lower jobs and prevented from entering into
competition for higher jobs which are preserved for the Hindus. In it the 240
millions of Hindus have 60 millions of Untouchables who can, be used as
shock-absorbers in slumps and dead weights in booms, for in slumps it is the
Untouchable who is fired first and the Hindu is fired last and in booms the
Hindu is employed first and the Untouchable is employed last.

Most people believe that Untouchability is a religious system. That is true.
But it is a mistake to suppose that it is only a religious system. Untouchability
is more than a religious system. It is also an economic system which is worse
than slavery. In slavery the master at any rate had the responsibility to feed,
clothe and house the slave and keep him in good, condition lest the market
value of the slave should decrease. But in the system of Untouchability the
Hindu takes no responsibility for the maintenance of the Untouchable. As an
economic system it permits exploitation without obligation. Untouchability is
not only a system of unmitigated economic exploitation, but it is also a system
of uncontrolled economic exploitation." That is because there is no
independent public opinion to condemn it and there is no impartial machinery
of administration to restrain it. There is no appeal to public opinion, for
whatever public opinion there is it is the opinion of the Hindus who belong to
the exploiting class and as such favour exploitation. There is no check from
the police or the judiciary for the simple reason that they are all drawn from
the Hindus, and take the side of the Exploiters.

Those who believe that Untouchability will soon vanish do not seem to have
paid attention to the economic advantages which it gives to the Hindus.
Untouchable cannot do anything to get rid of his untouchability. It does not
arise out of any personal fault on his part. Untouchability is an attitude of the
Hindu. For Untouchability to vanish, it is the Hindu who must change. Will he
change ?

Has a Hindu any conscience? Is he ever known to have been fired with a
righteous indignation against a moral wrong ? Assuming he does change so
much as to regard Untouchability a moral wrong, assuming he is awakened to
the sense of putting himself right with God and Man, will he agree to give up
the economic and social advantages which Untouchability gives ? History, I
am afraid, will not justify the conclusion that a Hindu has a quick conscience
or if he has it is so active as to charge him with moral indignation and drive
him to undertake a crusade to eradicate the wrong. History shows that where

ethics and economics come in conflict" victory is always with economics.
Vested interests have never been known to have willingly divested
themselves unless there was sufficient force to compel them. The
Untouchables cannot hope to generate any compelling force. They are poor
and they are scattered. They can be easily suppressed should they raise their
head.

On this analysis, Swaraj would make Hindus more powerful and
Untouchables more helpless and it is quite possible that having regard to the
economic advantages which it gives to the Hindus, Swaraj, instead of putting
an end to Untouchability, may extend its life. That Untouchability is vanishing
is therefore only wishful thinking and a calculated untruth. It would be most
stupid — if not criminal — to take it into account in -considering the demands of
the Untouchables for constitutional safeguards and ignore the hard facts of
the present and their certainty to continue in the indefinite future.

Contents Chapter IX